Jeremy Shafer shows how to make flexible finger rings that look like reptilian claws by allowing joint movement. He also shows a handy way to maximize the number of squares you can make out of standard printer paper. Read the rest

I can’t tell you how many times over the past five decades I needed a bookmark when none were around. Bookmarks are designed to reside most comfortably between the pages of a book, which makes them awkward to keep in your pocket, wallet, or purse, which is really where you want them when you suddenly need one.

This results in lots of corners being torn off magazines and newspapers to use in a pinch. But the bookmark you get from tearing off a corner is small and often slides either out of the book or down between the pages. And don’t mention folding the corner of the page over – don’t go there. Book publishers (that’s me) don’t like to hear that.

Of course, origami will solve your problem. Before you give up and think, “I can never get those damn paper folds right,” let me soothe your anxiety by explaining that making one of these cute and clever origami bookmarks is easy as pie and takes about a minute.

The Origami Resource Center online teaches oodles of methods for simple square origami bookmarks, or more decorative versions including pandas, penguins, peacocks, and Santas. From that website is a simple square fold that you can make even if you’ve never folded a piece of paper before. I’ve simplified it a bit more, making it (hopefully) even easier.

First, you need a piece of paper, exactly square – anywhere from 4 to 8 inches will do. And I’ll use a piece of origami paper in the photos so it’s easier for you to keep track of which side is which (commonly found origami paper is colored on one side and white on the other). Read the rest

Etsy user mrimprov is testing the adage that art is what you can get away with, selling Terrible Origami for a quarter million dollars or less. Below are some more reasonably-priced examples. Read the rest

Revealed at the Google IO conference, Cardboard is a scored, flat-pack box that you fold into set of cardboard goggles that hold your phone; an accompanying software package uses your phone's screen and accelerometer to create stereo-optical VR images in the manner of the Oculus Rift. It's a delightfully simple and elegant concept, and Google has published plans for making your own. You need cardboard, a set of cheap lenses, a magnet, velcro and a rubber band.
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Martin "starwarigami" Hunt made this lovely TIE Fighter origami piece for London's MCM Comic Expo and contributed it to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool, along with several other marvellous creations. The photo notes state: "Folded from a 2 by 1 rectangle cut from a sheet of 150gsm A1 craft paper.
For a B.O.S. display at the 2012 MCM Expo in London."